Bill Walton won’t be running for President of the Ben Howland fan club any time soon.

The UCLA basketball legend and current ESPN broadcaster made that much clear on his broadcast of Thursday night’s UCLA-Washington, as he repeatedly took jabs at the Bruins’ current coach and his alma mater by criticizing attendance and explaining that the Bruins needed to play a different, more fast-paced style.

But for the most part, Walton’s frustration seemed to be centered on Howland specifically.

Walton has been critical of the Bruins coach in the past and has never been afraid to make his opinion known, but last night’s broadcast — in a UCLA win, nonetheless — seemed to mark his boldest criticism yet. Asked by broadcasting partner Dave Pasch if Howland’s time has run out in Westwood, Walton wasted no time in answering.

“I’m not in charge,” Walton told him. “If I were, things would be different.”

“Do they look like they’re having a good time?” Walton continued. “Are they playing great basketball? Are they selling tickets? … This looks like people are getting ready to go to the dentist.”

Howland was well-aware of the comments on Friday afternoon, adding that this had been the third game this season that Walton has been openly critical of the Bruins during his ESPN broadcast.

“He’s been critical in all the games he’s done of ours this year,” Howland said. “As a broadcaster and as an analyst and an announcer, that’s his job and perfectly his right to be critical. I said in the past, for me, Bill is one of the greatest players in the history of college basketball. He holds such a special place in UCLA basketball lore. I just take it and try to do the job to the best of my ability.”

Howland certainly tried to take the high road in the issue, choosing to speak highly of Walton whenever he was pressed about what it meant for such an important alumnus to speak out so negatively against his coaching.

“I’m not sure how many more times he has us (on a broadcast),” Howland said, “but obviously he feels how he feels about me and there’s nothing I can do about that.”

This isn’t the first time — or likely the last — that Howland has come under fire. After three consecutive Final Four appearances from 2006 to 2008, Howland’s teams have compiled a 99-58 overall record. And after a report surfaced in December that suggested Howland could be fired before the end of the season, the hot seat has been extra warm in Westwood.

Still, he assured Walton’s and others’ comments haven’t affected him.

“It’s part of the job,” Howland said when asked about rumors of his job status. “Any time you’re in a high-profile position, especially in a big metropolitan area like L.A. or New York or Philadelphia or Chicago where there’s so many people and so many different media outlets and different forms of media, you’re going to have that. I understand that when I took this job, and I continue to understand that. That’s part of the job.”

“Bill was 60-0 his first two years,” Howland continued. “His reference point is pretty special. I understand that. What they did, I think it will be hard to see often again in the history of college basketball. Their expectations are so high, and I get it. It’s part of what makes UCLA special.”

Ryan Kartje is a sports features reporter, with a special focus on the NFL and college sports. He has worked for the Orange County Register since 2012, when he was hired as UCLA beat writer. His enterprise work on the rise and fall of the daily fantasy sports industry (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/industry-689093-fantasy-daily.html) was honored in 2015 with an Associated Press Sports Editors’ enterprise award in the highest circulation category. His writing has also been honored by the Football Writers Association of America and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Ryan worked for the Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times and Fox Sports Wisconsin, before moving out west to live by the beach and eat copious amounts of burritos.

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